A fresh start for Montana, and the nation

I’m old enough to remember when Greg Gianforte and his millions and millions of dollars in TV ads, radio ads, and mailers told us Rob Quist would be a rubber stamp for Nancy Pelosi. Gianforte even went so far as to say

“Rob Quist is Nancy Pelosi in a cowboy hat.”

Well, it seems that Gianforte’s agenda of unconstitutionally spying on Montanans with the NSA lines up with Nancy Pelosi as the two voted together to continue surveillance that blatantly violates the 4th Amendment. Gianforte joined Pelosi as well as the Republican majority to vote down attempts to curtail the NSA’s vast spying powers.

Remember during the Montana Special Election in May when we heard that the best reason not to vote for Rob Quist was because he would vote with Nancy Pelosi? Yeah, you probably heard the ad, ad nauseum.

Well, Kathleen Williams has broken from the pack and decided that Montana and the nation need a fresh start, we need new leadership in Congress and that’s why she’s running and that’s why we need Kathleen Willams. We also need new leadership for our party and that is why this ad is so refreshing.

What can we make of such a vote from Gianforte?

First, Greg Gianforte has betrayed Montanans, again, and again, this vote flies in the face of what it means to be a Montanan. Montanans value our privacy and Constitutional rights.

Second, Gianforte slapped Montana Republicans in the face by voting against their values and those Montanans who have stood with Gianforte through the assault on a reporter and his assault on public lands. Perhaps Republicans will finally show Greg Gianforte the door.

Finally, Nancy Pelosi sits in a safe seat in California and does not have to worry about a primary challenge from Democrats. Democrats do have the power to elect new house leadership that actually represents our values. Montana first needs a vote in the House Democratic Caucus, so we must first defeat Greg Gianforte this November.

These Republican attacks on Montanans will not stand and Gianforte needs to answer up to his ties with Nancy Pelosi and this unconstitutional government overreach that he voted for.

The House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday that would renew one of the government’s most sweeping surveillance authorities for six years with minimal changes.

The measure, which passed 256-164, reauthorized Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which was set to expire later this month.

The law was first passed in 2008 to legalize President George W. Bush’s warrantless wiretapping program. It allows the National Security Agency to collect Americans’ communications with people overseas, as long as the NSA is “targeting” the foreigners involved.

I called Rob Quist and asked him how he would have voted on this bill, he had this to say:

I would have voted against this erosion of our freedoms. Quist added with emphasis, I would have definitely voted against this.

Rob Quist would have voted against any efforts at spying on Montanans. He wouldn’t have joined Greg Gianforte and Nancy Pelosi to spy on Montanans. Looks like Gianforte lied again and the Gianforte-Pelosi agenda rolls on.

Greg Gianforte doesn’t stand with Montanans, so I fixed this ad probably from a dark money SuperPAC.

If you appreciate an independent voice holding Montana politicians accountable and informing voters, and you can throw a few dollars a month our way, we would certainly appreciate it.